Mobile phones and other user devices rely on a user identity card to identify the phone or device for communication on a communication network. The user identity card (UIC) can be a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card used in a GSM network, a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) used in a UMTS network, a Removable User Identity Module (R-UIM) used in a CDMA network, or the like. The UIC is an integrated circuit that securely stores a unique identifier for identifying a subscriber on a mobile network. When the UIC is installed in a mobile phone or other device requiring access to the mobile network, the UIC is communicatively coupled to a processor of the mobile device. The processor retrieves the unique identifier from the UIC in order to uniquely identify the device on the network.
For example, a SIM card stores a unique International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) identifier. The IMSI is sent to the network by a device in which the SIM card is installed to identify the device, and to enable the network to retrieve subscriber information associated with the IMSI from a home location register (HLR) or visitor location register (VLR) of the network. The UIC is most often removably inserted into a device. However, some UICs are permanently soldered into the device.
In an LTE network (Long Term Evolution—which involves 3rd generation partnership (3GPP) and 4th generation (4G) technology), SIMs are activated via a Bearer Independent Protocol (BIP), a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), or an Over-The-Air (OTA) protocol connection between the SIM and an OTA platform. However, SIM activation only happens once in the lifetime of a SIM card. SIM activation is a “one-shot” challenge. Once the card is activated it will not start another activation.
The one-shot activation feature is magnified when attempting to test new activation protocols and features. Every test currently requires a new UIC to be activated. Once tested for activation, the UIC cannot be used for further activation testing, and it typically used for other UIC or mobile device testing or discarded. Testing procedures can run through 100s of UICs to finally get a protocol to function properly. In addition, some parameters to accept a new protocol require few successes because of the number of UICs required for an extensive test.
Hence a need exists for a method to automatically reactivate a UIC so it can be used multiple times to test UIC activation.